Goodbye
by Ashe Corinthos
Summary: Tick, tock. The hands of time never pause. You're out of time.


**.X.**

 _The hands of time never pause._

 _You've run out of time._

 **.X.**

The brilliant light that illuminates eternity surrounds them.

In this place, time has frozen.

There is no progression. There is no aging, and the test of father time is nonexistent. No changes of season, or signalling of deterioration or growth. Nothing changes, and all is still. Silence floods this place, in all its beautiful and undying glory, and the only two to share it sit side by side in this place.

Facing a sunset that never moves, hands entwined. Bathed in scarlet and ametrine, in a world that exists only for them.

This world is perfect.

And yet, even though it is what they both desire, even they are not kept from the grasp of reality and the tug of passing seconds. The gods themselves cannot escape the coldest of truths.

Even in this utopia meant to preserve them in their moment, they cannot save themselves.

 **.X.**

 _The blank room is bitter, harsh._

 _She can't bear standing here another second._

 _It's lifeless, chilling, sending shivers up her spine. The air is lukewarm at best, and it feels as if there is nothing left to hope for._

 _Nothing left to_ _save._

 _They have to be wrong. Everything has to be wrong- a mistake._

 _This can't be how it ends._

 _She can only huddle in the slowly waning embers of sunlight outside the window, and squeeze the hand beside her that refuses to respond._

 **.X.**

The warmth is comforting.

This place is dyed in soft heat, reminiscent of the embrace of a loved one, and Rin takes solace in the grace and gentleness of such a moment.

Cherishes it, gripping into it with her fingernails and fearing the minute that it will be ripped away, like a toy a child has long since outgrown.

This safe haven, this one spot that they can be together without fear or pain, is just as mortal as them both.

He is silent beside her. As ephemeral as an eclipse, and just as breathtaking. He shines like the sun, brilliant and mesmerizing, and she can only tear her eyes away from him long enough to gaze upon the burning star before them that inches further into the vast expanse of the cerulean ocean.

Moving farther and farther away, and disappearing before them like a fleeting dream.

Rin fears looking away too long, as if he'll fade right then and there. His hand is real and firm within hers, but oh-so fragile. Trembling, even though his expression is serene.

He is just as afraid as her, and just as unwilling.

But they have no choice, and they've lingered too long in the midst of a grandiose fantasy. Time runs short, and she can't change anything.

There is nothing left to do, but await the approaching moment that it all ends.

 **.X.**

 _Crystalline tears cascade down her pale cheeks._

 _Rin can't remember the last time that she cried this much._

 _Was it the day she found out she was losing him?_

 _Was it weeks ago, when she realized he wasn't getting better?_

 _Was it an hour ago, when they said there was no more awaiting the inevitable?_

 _Her heart feels three times its normal size, threatening to beat right from her ribcage, as if to offer itself to him as her final gift._

 _The dreams they'd built together, and the wonderful world they'd created for the two of them. The illusions they'd spent countless, precious moments forming between themselves. Wishing for a happier life, a world where there was no pain or sorrow, and only the most beautiful things that wouldn't ever be laid to rest._

 _Of all the things to take away, the only thing she couldn't bear to part with was him._

" _Len," she whispers to the empty room. The steady rhythm of his monitor is too loud, disturbing his peaceful sleep._

" _I'm… I'm not ready."_

 **.X.**

"Yes, Rin- you are."

Her head is lying against his shoulder. The lull of the absence of sound is pierced by his honeyed voice, the lilting tenor that she's grown to adore. His hand gently squeezes hers between their grazing thighs.

The scene is too beautiful, but she knows better. Rin knows the darkness is encroaching, waiting for its chance to sap their happiness from the very air.

This respite from the nightmare is too short, bittersweet.

His other hand patterns innumerable shapes upon the back of her hand, his hopes, dreams, fantasies written in invisible traces upon her skin. It's warm, and leaves a fragile tingle in its wake.

He is like a summer's wind, wisping around her with a feather-light caress, and it's only after it has gone completely do you ever realize it was fading.

"You've been fighting for so long, Rin," Len murmurs, his voice only audible to her ears, smooth and ever breakable. "We've been fighting this same battle for what seems like forever. We've come so far to make it here, and it hasn't been in vain. Every moment I spent with you, I will never forget. You've done more than enough of your own suffering for me."

His aura is soft, and she can sense his heartbeat like it's her own. Beating rapidly, but losing strength, withering, aching.

This fight has gone on longer than he ever meant for it to, and he has been miserable more than he had to be. But there is no regret in his tone, in his body language. Only unconditional love, his form made of their shattered future and everything that they were.

Soon, the memories will be all that remain.

"I will always love you, Rin. I want you to know that I love you, and that has never changed. I'll always be there for you, and you will never be alone. This is not the first goodbye we've made, nor will it be the last."

Something changes, then. He's not as calm as he was, and there is more emotion in the words he speaks. Time threatens them from all corners of this precious world.

His lips ghost over her temple, as they've done thousands of times before. In this life, in their pasts, and as it will in the future. It is soft and gentle, sweet but short. It makes her unable to breathe, and she feels something icy stab its way into her chest, plunging into her heart with sorrow.

She can't hold onto him much longer. Especially if he's already prepared to go.

 _Tick, tock._

That sound echoes its way into their space, and everything is crushing in this sunlit realm.

 **.X.**

 _The world is slowly fading._

 _This room is becoming lit in shades of monochrome, and every piece of her soul aches with fear of the coming darkness._

 _There's not enough time left, and she knows it._

" _Please," she hiccups to the silence. "Please, not_ _yet._ "

 _Rin supposes, if she were to think more rationally on this, it would be selfish to ask for just a few seconds more. Every moment she begs for the inevitable to be delayed, he agonizes. His own soul wants only to rest._

 _She may not be ready to set him free, but he has long since been ready to give her peace._

 _To finally end the battle she's fought tooth and nail to win._

 _Her fingers rub soothing circles into his palm, her thumb brushing the soft, cold surface of his skin, teardrops splashing down against the alabaster, and she is terrified._

 _Terrified, but in a way, wanting to let go._

 _Not of him, or her memories. Not to lose the years she loved him, the lifetime she'd spent being with him and giving him everything she had. Only to let him finally find the serenity he'd tried so hard to retrieve._

 _She doesn't want him to feel pain anymore._

" _I love you, Len. I love you so much."_

 **.X.**

The air is cold.

The temperature is dropping drastically in this haven, and the bubble is deflating around them. This sweet delusion is coming to an end, and she can't draw this out anymore.

The sun is beginning to set.

"Hey… Rin?" Her beloved asks from beside her, gaze far beyond that of the horizon. "Once this is over, you won't forget me, right?"

Her head shakes quickly, and his melodic laugh echoes around them.

"I was hoping you wouldn't. This is only the end of- of one chapter, in your book. _Our_ book. So… keep writing the pages with me in mind, will you? Keep our memories safe… at least, until I can make new ones with you."

Even in this place, she's crying. Not even in the perfect land can she stifle her sorrow, and he uses his free hand to wipe away her tears.

"Hey, come on… This isn't goodbye forever. Even if I were reborn as glass, my reflection would find you. I'll be here… right here, always."

His hand softly lies over her breast, feeling the pitter-pattering of her own heartbeat, and she hears him sigh contently.

"I'll miss… the sound of that. I'll miss the sunsets with you, the star-gazing, and sharing every special moment with you. I'll miss _you,_ more than anything in this world, or the universe itself. Please remember, Rin… your smiles were the brightest stars in my night sky."

There is a flash of panic in her figure as she realizes he's growing distant- and the truth hits home.

Time has finally caught up.

"I will always…" His lips brush down, grazing the corner of her lips, and she feels him exhale one last time against her cheek, "...love you."

Then Len whispers a final word, and she feels the heat of his palm dissipate within hers, the comforting warmth of his body vanishing like mist upon dawn's rise- and akin to the most beloved of vivid dreams…

...he is no longer there to watch the sunset beside her.

 **.X.**

 _The monitor no longer captures his heartbeat._

 _She can't hear his breathing anymore._

 _The whine of the monitor, and the chill of hearing that final blessing from her loved one, leaves her sobbing there in the descending darkness, and she can do nothing but weep there at the bedside, her sorrow flooding the room like an endless tidal wave, crashing and sinking into the abyss ripped into her heart._

 _Nothing, nothing,_ _nothing_ _left to do- she's already done enough._

 _All she can do now, is grieve- and keep her promise._

 _Rin will always recall their memories, until the end of time._

 **.X.**

Sitting alone, she watches the edge of the sun fade down into the now darkened ocean.

The world has grown cold, and there is nothing left of the paradise they'd once been given. It is scary and she fears becoming lost in its clutches- but somewhere inside her, he is reassuring her.

Telling her that it will all be alright. That she'll be just fine, and before she knows it, the sun will rise again to bring color and beauty again. While it seems bleak now, there will be love and life rewritten into the story.

So for now, she will mourn. Live in this monochromatic world, to wander her way back to the light. But he won't allow her to do it by herself.

He will be there to make the sun rise again.

 _Until then…_

 _...Goodbye._

* * *

A/N: **Unbeta'd,** dedicated to _Reylinn._

Written in silence, in the darkest hours of 1 and 2 AM for the past two days.

Please enjoy this short, bittersweet fic, and-

Let this year become something to remember. This... _This,_ is my beginning of my clean slate. My years of writing and improving, come to this.

I'm going to sock 2017 outta this universe with all the things I'm going to accomplish.

*cracking of hands* Let's _go._

~Disclaimer~ I own nothing but farewells and the sorrow of depression.


End file.
